While a lot of users and even some critics are still touting the Galaxy S9 and S9+ as two of the best Android smartphones in the market, there's plenty of news that contrasts this fact. The calling issues of the S9 and S9+ are no secret and the latest lawsuit in Israel is proof of the fact that it's actually quite serious.

Apparently, a number of users in Israel have sued Samsung Electronics and Suny Cellular Communications Ltd (regional importer and partner) on the basis of selling smartphones that cannot perform even the basic cellphone function of making and taking calls properly. You can read the details of the class action lawsuit below.

"The applicant has discovered that during cellular conversations, the user encounters alternating loss of hearing on the other side of the call for a few seconds at a time (usually between 5 and 10 seconds). In other cases, the fault is expressed in a fragmentary sound (which creates a feeling of distorted reception) that does not allow for an audio conversation at all, and requires the severance of the conversation and the creation of a renewed connection."

Perhaps the most worrying fact in all this is that although Samsung has already rolled out multiple updates to fix the issues related to calling, they have been mostly ineffective, indicating that this could be a hardware issue. In fact, the plaintiff has even confirmed this fact from their side by saying that according to their investigations, the problem is being caused because the cellular networks in the country are incompatible with the Exynos chip powering the device. This could be a big problem for Samsung if they don't address it soon.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

Samsung has recently started to expand its older series of smartphones with new models and the A6 and A6+ are going to be a part of that initiative. They will definitely be released into the mid-range segment and you can expect the specs to be in the line of the following.

Exynos 7870/Snapdragon 625 CPU

3GB RAM for the A6 and 4GM RAM for the A6+

Micro-USB port only and not a USB Type-C port

3.5mm audio jack

Dual camera for only the Galaxy A6+

Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box

As far as reports are concerned though, the two devices will be tested in Europe and the Middle East initially. While the specs seem decent, the question is, would you be interested in buying one of these models if they became available near you? Xiaomi has already displaced Samsung as the number one smartphone manufacturer in India (one of the company's biggest low-mid range markets in the world) by releasing superb smartphones at ultra-low budgets, so it remains to be seen if it was a fluke or if the same trend will be seen in other markets as well. In case you are interested, do check out the renders here.

Via: SamMobile

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

One of the basic functions of any phone by its very essence is to enable the user to take and make calls, but unfortunately, some of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ units do not seem up to be up to the job. Apparently, a lot of users are complaining about their units dropping calls or the phone muting the call automatically. This issue has been confirmed beyond doubt and Samsung is working on a fix as you read this. It should be noted that this is an old problem now and Samsung has already sent out a patch or two to fix the problem, but so far, they have proven to be ineffective or marginally effective in improving the situation.

Personally, I can vouch for the fact that my old Galaxy S8 also experiences a strange calling related issue. At times, I can see a full signal bar but all call and SMS facilities simply go out of order. I had missed an entire hour's worth of calls last week, without even realizing that it was happening. It was only when I restarted the phone that the messages and calls started to come in again. I guess Samsung needs to improve on the basic phone functionalities of their flagship devices soon.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

It doesn't matter even if it's an Apple iPhone, but we are all used to seeing the famous "Made in China" or "Assembled in China" line printed behind most smartphones, but that could very well change soon. Apparently, Samsung is going to start assembling smartphones in Bangladesh from May. What this means for Bangladesh is that the price of models assembled by Samsung locally will come down in the country significantly. However, this will only apply to low-range or mid-range models for now, because the flagships and high-end smartphones are not ready to be assembled there yet. It may happen after a few months, but not as of now. This will significantly decrease the taxes (29.5%) which Samsung has to pay for importing their devices into Bangladesh.

Samsung has partnered up with Fair Electronics Ltd for the deal and the newly built manufacturing plant in Narsingdi (which is a huge 58,000 square-feet facility) is expected to churn out hundreds of thousands of 4G devices every month by June. While the concept of local manufacturing is not new for Samsung, this is the first time they have started doing it in Bangladesh.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

As it is the situation every year, there's a lot of excitement surrounding the next Galaxy Note device and rumors are slowly starting to make their way onto the internet. Nevertheless, you shouldn't believe everything you read or see. For example, the latest photos of the Galaxy Note 9, as leaked by @BdaLeak are not real either.

This news and the pictures have been confirmed to be a fake by SamMobile so do not take these images very seriously. Besides, it's way too early for Samsung to have fully functioning and ready prototypes such as the ones shown in the pictures. Additionally, the lack of a fingerprint scanner in any of the images gives one the impression that the Note 9 is sporting the in-display fingerprint scanner and we know for a fact that the technology isn't yet ready to support Samsung's AMOLED screens. Nevertheless, the actual images may not really look that much different from the ones that you see here, so it's worth a look we guess!

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)